Discovering the adversary, one day at a time

Archive.org Watch

January 25, 2011

I came across a complete work called The Qurâanic Foundations and Structure of Muslim Society. Written in 1973, it falls squarely into the Pakistani genre of Quranic-based study of "good governance." Its two volumes are filled with the kind of victim-centered woe that's so typical of the jihadi media we read today whether it be MB or AQ media: it's an Israeli conspiracy against Islam, Western world is keeping us down, etc. It's all there.

A brief excerpt:

The collective effort of the Millat for the moral perfection and happiness of the individual cannot, however, gain its ends truly and comprehensively unless it transforms itself into a free theo-democratic state, whose function should be to enforce the Islamic Way of Life in its totality and to act as a condition for the natural flowering of the ideals of Islam. Hence the establishment of the Islamic State, whenever and wherever possible, forms, according to the Holy Qur’Én, the duty of the Millat, not only towards Islam but also towards the individual.

January 09, 2011

This cassette contains some of the thought provoking, and at times, miraculous biographies of the Shuhadaa.

Last year I decided to dedicate a few posts to Salafist-jihadi texts that emphasize the movement's mysticism and spiritualism. Part IV profiles In the Hearts of Green Birds, a 90s-era English-language martyrology of individuals who died during the Bosnian War. The product of UK-based Azzam Publications, it came to my attention back in 2006 when it was distributed around the then-limited English-language jihadi web. It’s part of a popular genre in the Salafist-jihadi media that highlights the sacred qualities of the deaths of young men who die during what Abu Musab al-Suri called “open front” jihads.

Azzam Publications was a close-knit network of UK-based e-hadis (some of the earliest examples we have) who distributed Salafist-jihadi multimedia often used in recruitment and fund raising for the various open front jihads of the pre-9/11 era. NEFA Foundation has a screen capture from the group’s website before it was shut down after 9/11.

The current version -- still active on (where else?) Archive-dot-org -- was posted on 08 Feb 2007 by someone employing the uploader ID, "caravansofmartyrs@yahoo.fr" It carries a comment by a member of the ozooo media group, posted on 22 Feb 2008. It lacks the transcript.

http://www.archive.org/details/In_The_Heart_Of_Green_Birds

My copy of the file, however, was posted to a commercial server probably by someone active on the Ummah.com forum, where I first came across it, back in Feb 2006. The Ummah.com post includes the transcript. I also found the audio file and transcript on Archive around the same time. The current Archive file lacks the transcript.

Born of Turkish parents in Germany, his parents did not have enough money to bring him up and so they sold him to a German family. He was brought up as a non-Muslim by a German family. He was a model student and a very well behaved child, and no one could see the difference, as he was very fair in skin color. All of a sudden when he reached the age of 15, things began to go wrong for him. He began to mess around in school, and he became confused. He knew there was something different about him. He knew he was different than these people and that he was not German. Once he had an argument with his German mother, and she told him: "You are not my son!" And he went back and said that: "...That statement reverberated in my mind, and I went back and asked my mom what does this mean? She refused to tell me. After much battery, she told me the whole story, and that she was still in touch with my Turkish parents. My real parents, I went to see them and I began to live with them...." So he began to live with them and after a number of years, at the age of 21, he traveled to Bosnia.

---more anasheed---

And this brother, he had some experience in how to make video-films and mix videotapes. So in Bosnia, they made him the cameraman in the Operation. So, along with a Kalashnikov and his weapons, he’d carry a camera. And this brother; I witnessed this brother, he would be in the front of the attacks, with his camera, fighting and even reaching the Serb bunkers before the rest of the brothers, and he’d be standing on top of the bunkers. The Serbs would still be shooting from out of the window of the bunker and he’d be filming on top. And he said to me; he reached the bunkers and he said to me: "I felt: should I throw a grenade inside or should I put a camera inside?" And then he said he’d put the camera inside so he could get the best possible pictures, so he could mix the best film, so that he could send it back to the other brothers that don’t know anything about Jihad so that they could see the Jihad in their TV’s so that they could find out and learn about Jihad. That was his intention, he wanted to make the best possible tapes, that’s why he was always in the front with his camera. In the second operation, Allah took him as Shaheed inshaAllah.

---more anasheed---

....many people who knew Abu Musa, described him like a walking cartoon character. And you’d look at this man and you’d think that he is dumb or that he’s mental, but he is, and was, very clever.

January 03, 2011

I drop off the face of the earth for a year only to return to discover that Archive-dot-org is still a wretched hive of evil media. Just type "ansar1.info" in the search box at the top, and look at the crap that comes up. I was looking for some texts to add to MSJ's growing stash. I found only one, but what a one it is.

Posted by one "lal.masjid@yahoo.com" on Oct 9 2010, it is a meditation on jihad with imagery common in the more mystical jihad writings, regardless of how artless that imagery is employed.

While the ten horses neigh waiting for their bit and while the smith blows the bellows and strikes the white iron and the sparks fly, and while the weaver calls his friend to give him the thread to finish the remaining saddles, the horseman whispers an important matter in the blacksmith’s ear and says: “Reinforce the shield and armor.” This whisper deserves its reward and consideration.

And this whopper.

The fingertips long for the trigger and the ear grows accustomed to the sound of swords clashing. Likewise, the heart yearns to see the Merciful One and paradise. The breast longs for the 70 virgins, and the eye for Allah’s waving banners on top of the minaret. The ear hopes for the blessed sound of “God is Greater!”, so where are those who are rolling up their sleeves for the Lord of the Kaaba?

Wow! What comes first the triggers or the sword clashes? Awesomely bad stuff that is. Stick to engineering they should.

July 18, 2010

The Pest has a new magazine out. Yes, I'm saying it's the Pest. Aaron and Rusty both say so, and that's all the convincing I need. That, and reading the thing. Hegghammer does a good job clearing some hysterical hype about it.

My first impression: its producers apparently sought to create the Salafist-jihadi answer to the yoga lifestyle magazines you find at a Whole Foods checkout.

If you're interested in seeing what all the hype is about, you can find a copy over at -- where else? -- archive <dot> org:

The uploader ID, maher_yassine@yahoo.com, is very active on archive.org [hint: search "maher_yassine" in archive.org]. He/she has shared a ton of material connected to or distributed through the Al Mojahden Electronic Network. I have no idea what, if any, connection exists between the uploader ID and The Pest and his network of miscreants, but my guess is that there is one.

I think it's safe to say now that the Pest and his American compatriot, Azzam al-Skippy, have applied the knowledge of American suburban pop culture to good effect in support of their cause. Integrating pop culture into religious practice isn't the summit of theological achievements, however. There are plenty of rinky dink store front churches that can do it effectively, and religious workers take courses on effective communications all the time. It's much harder to weave theological clarity into the contemporary American idiom.

February 08, 2010

At Archive<dot> orghttp://www.archive.org/details/AlSuryEdarahhttp://www.archive.org/details/ikhlaseehttp://ia341330.us.archive.org/1/items/jadwal2_673/jadwal.html

At Scribdhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/10979605/Mouhammad-Qotbhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/3999459/Gazahttp://www.scribd.com/Northwaziristan-Shoora-Council/d/26243507http://www.scribd.com/doc/25207906/Messge-of-Iamam-Zurqavee-to-Banihasan

October 29, 2009

I've been in the middle of a crazy, happy couple of weeks. I recently got engaged, and I've also been -finally -- learning Arabic. I'm swamped in homework right now, but I'm looking forward to more blog time soon as I catch up with wedding planning and vocabulary lists. In the meantime I'm offering a little lesson in Archive<dot>org.

It's a lesson in Swahili.

Online jihobbyists love to label their Arabic language documents as "Swahili" when they upload to Archive. I'm not ruling out that "Swahili" is the default language for Archive, but it's hard to believe that their database developers would be that sloppy.

And so a good way to find jihadi literature at Archive is to search "Swahili" in "Texts."

Initially, you'll get documents in Swahili, but if you sort your
results by "Date Added" you will notice that "Swahili" looks a lot like
Arabic on Archive<dot>org these days. Like this one -- http://www.archive.org/details/thawra_amricyah -- uploaded by "really_done@yahoo.com." Or this one -- http://www.archive.org/details/t3lik-almsri -- uploaded by one "zbir-ar@hotmail.com." Mr. "zbir-ar" [let's face it, it's probably a guy] also uploaded this interesting document, http://www.archive.org/details/mfhom-al-twhed.

September 12, 2009

I was killing some rare free time this morning with a little trip around Archive <dot> org. With the recreation of al-Ekhlaas and a growing number of issues animating the jihobbist these days (Palestine, "revisions," Somalia, etc), expect Archive to remain the preeminent jihad media hosting site.

I want this guy's chair: http://www.archive.org/details/4-islamic-117

Some Sayyid Qutb here: http://www.archive.org/details/mofajerqtb

Note that the uploader ID, one "caravane55@yahoo.fr" follows my first rule of archive<dot>org exploitation. If an uploader ID uploads one jihadi file, then you can expect all other files associated with he/she/it to be jihadi-related, as well.

I've been noticing a lot of "yahoo.fr" elements in uploader IDs at archive<dot>org. Type "yahoo.fr" in the Archive search box and select a general media type like "Texts" and see what comes up. Most of the files are Islamic, but not necessarily Salafist-Jihadist, but I found many like this:http://www.archive.org/details/OMAREABEDLHAKIM_978

I have a hunch that this may be a reflection of increased jihadi networking within French speaking groups, either in the EU or Africa. Generally speaking, someone isn't uploading media to any public hosting site for personal use. They are intending other viewers to access it. That implies information sharing a network of some kind. It could be a jihadi forum, but not necessarily.

Who the hell is this, BTW?http://www.archive.org/details/mofajerabumariam

June 19, 2009

Where the global jihad meets Archive-dot-org you will find "jarchive.info."

http://www.jarchive.info/

When I first saw this site, I immediately assumed it was the product of some intel agency somewhere -- the production quality just seemstoo good for an average jihobbyist. But, I'm changing my mind. There is a residue of hope with this online analyst that at some point a jihobbyist will have the requisite web design and coding skills to construct a site as clean (and well organized) as this one. Each media link is hosted at Archive, YouTube, or a few other media hosting sites. It probably required a lot of coordination to manage sources across platforms.

And so I've decided to describe it as a labor of love for a bored, but rather talented Salafist-Jihadist, probably in Egypt, where we're told they don't have Salafist-Jihadists anymore.

June 16, 2009

I've been so busy with personal stuff that blogging has taken a back seat to errands, favors, appointments, and follow-ups. However, I thought you may find this Archive post useful just in case your collecting AQIM videos.

June 05, 2009

My eagle-eyes missed this archival video of Muhammed Qutb, Sayyid Qutb's brother, in what appears to be a late-70s or 80s-era lecture in Saudi Arabia. It was uploaded in March with someone using an uploader ID with a "yahoo.fr" e-mail address.

May 20, 2009

Dying to see more of the Blind Sheikh? Well, someone who gave the e-mail address " abda88@hotmail.it" uploaded a collection of Omar Abdel Rahman videos. So far, at least one is new to me.

http://ia350636.us.archive.org/3/items/KishkRmv/

UPDATE:

I just noticed that the same uploader ID recently posted a video of one of my favorites among the crazy sheikhs, Khaled Something or Other.

http://www.archive.org/details/TsunamiKaledArrached

I can't remember his exact name, but who cares? There is one video of a sermon he gave that culminated with his complete emotional unraveling. It was worth every minute it took to download. Let's see if this one has anything to offer.

It's a .zip file. I noticed long ago that jihobbyist* like to "hide" their files in Archive by employing a little bit of technical subterfuge. They change the extension on a file from its original (in this case a .zip) to one more appropriate for the the "movies" section of Archive (in this case it is a .mpg or .avi). If you open the file up in a raw text edit program you see the real extension coding. You just change the extension.

The Google "translation" of the Arabic shown here reflects the obvious. This isn't a movie, it's a collection of docs from Al-Maqdisi's website, tawhed.ws running on some kind of .exe file with a bunch of Java-enabled capabilities. I would never run the .exe even if I did own a PC, but in this case, it doesn't matter. The content is in the docs directory, and that was created in July 2007.

April 15, 2009

It's issue #53, but it may as well be #1. This is the first time I've ever seen this jihadi newsletter. I'm shocked at myself. How could I ever miss a jihadi journal that has both Fajr and Jannat in its title.

http://www.archive.org/details/jannatalfajrmagazine_53

UPDATE

Note: if you go to the main page of Arhive.org and search under "cehad" you receive some very interesting media results.

March 17, 2009

I recently did a copy and paste from the Keywords field of an Archive<dot>org record. Keyword lists like the one below hint at the user's (ie, the online jihadi's) original intentions for sharing the file, such as their intended audience or purpose, and hint at their command of English. This collection is unusual, because it reflects accurate spelling and coupling of concepts that suggests this Archive user is a native English speaker. Their UK-based yahoo account also suggests this, too.

For context, see the file record here, http://www.archive.org/details/UsaCrusaders

USA Crusaders

"Fighting is prescribed for you & ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you & that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knows & ye know not."(2.216)

This book attempt to establish the parameters of the Prophet's school through the study of military incursions and house and Mission accurate detailed analytical study and develop lessons and governance provisions, and provide anecdotal evidence and practical, with reasoning and reinforcement and clarification.

The title of the book: the Prophet's military school Author: d. Mohammad Abdul Kader Obovas Publisher: Dar Al-Furqan Number Edition: First Edition 1413 e 1993 The number of volumes: 1 Pages: 310 File Size: 5.3 MB